‘The United States will not sit idly by while unaccountable political operatives convene kangaroo court trials in foreign countries to prosecute and persecute American soldiers…’
(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) The United Nations‘ International Criminal Court on Thurdsay approved an investigation into alleged crimes that American soldiers committed while in Afghanistan but Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the prosecution will fail.
Cruz, who introduced a resolution to censure the ICC, said in a press release the decision undermines America’s sovereignty and national security.
“Today’s announcement by the International Criminal Court is an explicit assault on the sovereignty and security of the United States, which is not a party to the ICC and over which the ICC has no jurisdiction,” he said.
“It marks the end of the pretense that the ICC is a legitimate legal body bound by norms and jurisdiction, and exposes it as a political organization targeting America and our allies, including Israel, to advance the political agendas of hostile countries which themselves often lack the rule of law.”
Cruz’s resolution would ask the UN Security Council to ban the ICC from prosecuting nation-states that have not ratified the treaty that authorizes its actions, The Daily Beast reported.
“The United States will not sit idly by while unaccountable political operatives convene kangaroo court trials in foreign countries to prosecute and persecute American soldiers and the soldiers of our allies,” Cruz said.
“I will work with my colleagues and the Trump administration on measures aimed at countering this decision, including and especially through a United Nations Security Council resolution that would prohibit the ICC from prosecuting the nationals of non-member states,” he added.
Major world powers, including Russia, China, Israel and the United States, have not agreed to the ICC’s jurisdiction.
“The ICC’s campaign against our troops will fail because the United States will ensure that it fails, but also because it is fundamentally illegitimate,” Cruz said.
“The ICC and the international community must decide between bringing the Court back in line or destroying whatever legitimacy it still claims for itself,” he said.
The ICC’s decision to launch an investigation into American military activity in Afghanistan and Cruz’s proposed resolution come as President Donald Trump’s administration has taken steps to end the war.